He always felt better whenever he came to this place, so he approached the water, glowing under the moonlight, found himself the rock where he used to sit, and sat down.
The boulder was flat, and partly out of the water, leaving the top dry, perfect if he wanted to cool his legs in the pond without getting his ass wet.
He sat down and gently kicked his legs in the water, feeling the minnows and tadpoles tickling his toes.
He was always calmer whenever he came here. After ten years away from this spot and, even though he didn’t want to admit it at the moment, from Derek as well, he didn’t know how he’d survived the last ten years without either.
Now that his inner wolf had been let out to run, Mason was able to
better think about his circumstances.
He guessed Derek did have a reason to be pissed. That was exactly why Mason had kept it from him that his stay might be extended or even permanent if they couldn’t find and kill the hunters.
He knew Derek would worry and that he would be angry.
Mason hadn’t chosen to keep those things from him to be a prick or anything, and that was the one thing that pissed him off the most about all this. That Derek seemed to think that Mason got a kick out
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of keeping secrets from his mate. He didn’t.
The fact that Derek was his mate was also something of a secret, but he was working up to that.
Mason sighed. Maybe ten years of being his own wolf and relying on no one but himself for his decisions had turned him into a pussy. He couldn’t handle the thought of what would happen if someone was to become upset with him.
That was why he’d lost the challenge against James that day. He wasn’t fit to be the leader of a pack, much less to make decisions for his mate.
“Mason!”
Mason damn near jumped out of his skin as he half turned his body just in time to watch Derek come running after him.
What the hell was he―
Oh, he saw that vampire, Ivan, standing behind Derek in the shadows. He was naked, and his eyes were not red, suggesting that he’d been possessed by the ghost of Eric.
He didn’t care how romantically the others spun that story. It creeped him out.
“Mason.” Derek ran two feet into the water, soaking his shoes and the bottom of his jeans to halfway up his calves before he stopped.
The rock that Mason rested on was on the other side of the pond, just on the other side of the small and gentle waterfall that came from the river and fed into the pond, keeping the water always fresh and clean.
Because of the horseshoe shape of the pond, and the little waterfall in the center, the only way to get onto the rock where Mason sat was to either swim to it or jump to it.
It forced both men to keep their distance from each other.
Mason was glad to see his mate, but was still grumpy in the fact that he wanted to be left alone. “What do you want, Derek?”
Derek winced, and Mason bit down on his bottom lip. He wasn’t meaning for these stupid snappy things to be coming out of his mouth.
78 Marcy Jacks
He just wanted some solitude to think.
The thought of Derek turning around and leaving on that final note just so that Mason could have that solitude wasn’t so appealing.
“Wait,” he called when it looked as though Derek was about to do just that.
Mason got to his feet and jumped to dry land, landing at a crouch beside Derek.
The other man’s face dropped in shock as he looked over at the rock and then back down at Mason. “I didn’t know you could jump that far.”
“It’s a talent,” he said, then turned toward Eric or Ivan or whoever
the hell that was. “We’ll be fine on our own for a bit.”
Eric―at least, Mason was going to assume it was Eric considering the other man was naked, meaning he’d just transformed―nodded and then turned around, vanishing back in the shadows.
The man would probably stay close by, just in case, but Mason wasn’t entirely looking for privacy at this point.
“What are you doing here?” Mason asked.
Derek wet his lips, and he didn’t look Mason in the face. “I was worried you’d try and leave again.”
Mason hesitated and then decided to just go for it and put his arms around Derek’s shoulders. To his extreme relief and delight, the other man held him back. “I wouldn’t do that to you again. I just needed some time to think.”
“Didn’t want to risk it,” Derek said against his shoulder.
He felt good there. Warm and solid. Mason loved having him against his body. He could stay like this forever.
“Sorry I worried you. I just…I did what I did so you wouldn’t worry.”
“I know that,” Derek said, pulling away enough to look up at him. “But I’m not a werewolf, or an omega or whatever. I’m human, and I don’t like other people deciding what I should and shouldn’t know about my safety without my say-so. I’m sorry if that goes against
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what you are, but this is how I am,” Derek said.
Again, Mason fought the urge of his inner alpha to demand to be given the right of way in everything. If Isaac and Tristan could do this, then he could, too.
“Okay. I’m sorry it came out that way, but I can’t be sorry for trying to protect you,” Mason said. He needed to be stubborn in this thing, at least.
Derek looked at him long
